A Chinese official pushed back on President Trump’s claim that his tariffs on Chinese products are pushing manufacturing out of the country, saying that foreign investors are “still bullish” on China.
“Even though over the past year or more the United States has continued to menace Chinese products with additional tariffs, everyone can see that the enthusiasm for foreign investors in China remains high,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at a news briefing, Reuters reported Tuesday.
{mosads}Lu noted that corporations such as Tesla, BASF and BMW recently upped their investments in China, adding that the country would continue to improve investment conditions for foreign companies, according to Reuters.
The comments come after Trump said in an interview that aired Sunday that companies were moving production out of China because of his tariffs on Chinese goods. Trump said any agreement to halt the trade war would not be a “50-50” deal.
Earlier this month, Trump increased the tariff rate on $200 billion in Chinese imports, saying Beijing had reneged on previously agreed-upon positions in the negotiations. China retaliated by increasing its tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods, set to go into effect on June 1.